1. Field
This disclosure relates generally to the field of surgical devices and, more particularly, to one or more approaches toward directing illumination from a surgical device towards a surgical area of interest.
2. Information
While performing a surgical procedure, a surgeon may utilize a retractor, which may allow the surgeon to draw lateral and deep layers of tissue away from underlying features and/or structures. Responsive to the drawing or retracting of lateral and deep layers away from underlying features, a surgeon may focus his or her attention on repair, manipulation, and/or replacement of body organs, and/or other anatomical structures including, but not limited to, soft tissue, nerve, venous, arterial, tendinous, and bony structures, and/or may perform numerous other surgical procedures.
However, at times, a surgical instrument and/or other operating room equipment may give rise to shadowing of light from an overhead source intended to illuminate a surgical area of interest. Other sources of blockage or limiting of overhead light may include the surgeon's head, body, and/or hands, for example, and/or one or more body parts of an assistant. Further, other instrumentation in and around the surgical field may obscure the surgical field from the surgeon's view. Accordingly, a surgeon may be required to reposition surgical instruments and/or overhead lighting or may be required to wear a headlamp so as to provide a clear and/or illuminated view of a surgical area of interest.
One approach toward achieving better control over illumination of a surgical area of interest may include use of fiber-optic conduits in a surgical retractor so as to provide local illumination of, for example, a surgical field (or portion thereof). However, fiber-optics-based illuminated surgical retractors may be attached to cables, such as electrical and/or fiber-optic cables, which may impede a surgeon's freedom to orient a surgical retractor into a desired position. Additionally, fiber-optics-based retractors may direct illumination predominately along the longer dimension of a surgical retractor, without providing sufficient illumination directly beneath the retractor. Further, fiber-optics-based retractors may comprise rigid structures that may be unable to conform to a curvature dictated by a structure or feature within a surgical area of interest so as to permit illumination within, for example, small openings of a human or animal body.